On October 16, 2001, the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico signed an official proclamation recognizing World Osteoporosis Day. This was possible through the initiative of the Puerto Rico Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SPED), an IOF member society. Ample coverage of the proclamation was given by the media in radio, television and the local press.

Sponsored by an educational grant from Merck Sharp & Dohme, the Society was able to raise public awareness of osteoporosis through a myriad of educational activities. Society members wore the WOD pin all week and exhibited the IOF poster (to which SPED's name and logo as well as that of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico were added) in their offices and hospitals. A five day exhibit was staged in a large shopping mall in metropolitan San Juan during which daily interactive lectures were given by members of the Society, the one-minute risk test was given to all attendees, videos of IOF, NOF and MSD were shown, educational materials were distributed and calcaneal bone densities were carried out. Society members also participated in four interactive radio programs aired on three radio stations and articles appeared in several major newspapers, including an extensive piece in El Pais.

Calcaneal Bone densitometry at San Patricio Shopping Mall in San Juan.

Through their intense efforts and especially by gaining official government support for World Osteoporosis Day, SPED was able to raise a great deal of media and public interest in osteoporosis -thereby helping to spread knowledge about the disease, its prevalence, prevention and treatment.